MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

Results tagged ‘ Brad Snyder ’

Cubs prospect Brad Snyder had one of five hits by Escogido in a 2-1 loss to the Toros, who got five hitless innings by Miguel de los Santos. Starlin Castro was 0-for-3 in the game. The Dominican League will take Friday and Saturday off. On Sunday, Escogido (3-2) will play Estrellas (2-3), and the Toros (3-2) will play the Gigantes (2-3) as they try to determine who will represent the Dominican in the Caribbean series.

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro went 1-for-4 with a walk in Escogido’s 8-7 win over Licey on Sunday. The shortstop is batting .286. Welington Castillo was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Brad Snyder 1-for-3 for Licey. The Dominican Winter League regular season ends Tuesday.

Starlin Castro was 1-for-3 with a walk and scored a run in Escogido’s 3-1 win Wednesday over Estrellas in the Dominican Winter League. Bryan LaHair started in left field and went 1-for-4 for Estrellas. Brad Snyder started in center field in Licey’s 12-6 loss to Aguilas and was hitless. Former Cubs OF/IF Jake Fox hit his fourth homer, a two-run shot, in the first.

Starlin Castro went 4-for-4, including an RBI single in the fifth, in Escogido’s 10-6 loss to Estrellas in Dominican Winter Ball on Friday. Castro is 8-for-12 in his last three games with four runs, three RBIs, and a triple. He’s hitting .289 in 10 games overall.

Meanwhile, catcher Welington Castillo was batting .192 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 24 games and outfielder Brad Snyder was batting .326 with one homer and seven RBIs in 12 games. Both are playing for Licey in the Dominican Republic.

Cubs catcher Welington Castillo had a large contingent of fans cheering him on in La Romana Thursday night. A group of fans on a week-long trip to the Dominican Republic arranged to go to the Winter League game between the home Toros and Licey. Castillo and another Cubs player, outfielder Brad Snyder, play for Licey, as does ex Cubs infielder/catcher/outfielder Jake Fox.

Games in the D.R. are not boring. There are drums, trumpets, cowbells, thundersticks and loud music — and that’s during the game. Fans wave flags and recognize good plays — a double play to end an inning is cheered as if it’s a key out in a playoff game.

On Thursday, Castillo had one more distraction. A hot air balloon was being inflated behind the left field fence during his first at-bat. It seemed as if they were timing it to light the flame and illuminate the balloon just as the pitcher was preparing to throw to Castillo, but they kept doing it during the Toros’ players at-bats as well.

Fox hit two home runs — or jonrones — on Tuesday for Licey. He was not as successful on Thursday, although he did hit a fly ball to the gap in left which was caught. If you want to follow Licey, or just get a peek into baseball in the D.R., check out trainer Chris McDonald’s blog. He works for the Tigers’ Double-A team during the regular season in the U.S., and this is his seventh year in the D.R., sixth with Licey.

Outfielder Brad Snyder cleared waivers and was outrighted off the Cubs’ 40-man roster. He is now a free agent. The Cubs’ 40-man roster is now at 36 players. Snyder, 28, appeared in 12 games with the Cubs, and batted .185 with five RBIs. In 132 games at Triple-A Iowa, he hit .308 with 25 homers, 37 doubles and drove in 106 runs. A left-handed hitter, he has a career .279 average in eight Minor League seasons.

Kosuke Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano are not in the Cubs’ starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals. Instead, Sam Fuld will be in left and Brad Snyder in right. It’s a blustery day at Wrigley Field. Hang onto your hats. Here’s the lineup:

The Cubs’ Minor League affiliates combined to post a 374-316 record this season. The .542 winning percentage ranked second among Major League teams behind the Cardinals (.569). It’s the first time the Cubs’ affiliates have totaled 374 wins since winning 379 in 1995.

* Triple-A Iowa finished 82-62 and tied for first place in the PCL Northern Division. The I-Cubs were 39-33 at home and 43-29 on the road. Darwin Barney and Brad Snyder were named to the 2010 All PCL team and Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg was named PCL manager of the year.

* Double-A Tennessee went 42-27 in the first half and 44-26 in the second half to finish 86-53, the best record in franchise history. The Smokies lost in four games to Jacksonville in the Southern League championship series. Robinson Chirinos, Tony Campana and Brandon Guyer were named to the postseason SL all-star team. Smokies manager Bill Dancy was named SL manager of the year.

* Class A Daytona finished 75-64 overall, including a 41-28 record in the second half. The Cubs led the Florida State League in hits (1,236) and innings pitched (1,234 2/3). Michael Brenly, Rebel Ridling and DJ LeMahieu were named to the FSL postseason all-star team.

* Class A Peoria finished 71-66, beginning the year with a team record 11 straight wins. Justin Bour’s 87 RBIs ranked second in the league.

* Class A Boise finished 34-42. Alvaro Ramirez and Pierre LePage were named to the Northwest League all-star team. LePage was a unanimous selection.

* Mesa went 26-29, and became the first team in the rookie league to shutout an opponent when they did so June 24 vs. the Angels.

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